Mixing tips and tutorials for a beginner

Hi,

I have several songs with all of my tracks recorded etc but it all sounds flat and lifeless. Which is the best way of tackling the mixing process for the first time?
Should I start with panning? Also since all of my drums are done in GA SE4, should I add panning to each individual element of the drums, how so?

Is there any good free tutorials on this for begginers? How did ya’ll went about this the first time you faced mixing?
Is there any sort of “song template” for Cubase 9 Pro that I could download so I can take a look at the panning opf the different elements, effects used, EQ etc?

Thanks.

Panning is kinda easy, just emagine a stage and where the instruments are placed, and make the audio match the visual. (easier said than done)
The mixer in GA SE4 would be the fastest way to Pan the drums.
One thing I sometimes do when I don’t have a clear idea how the sound-stage should be. Is to first start mixing in L-C-R.
Left-Center-Right no inbetween Pan, so usually drums, vocal, bas Center and the rest either fully Left or Right.
It should not take you more than a few minutes to do, and now you can start doing adjustments to the exact placement/Pan.
This way you don’t start with everything in the same place, and it can be easier to hear and decide.
There are loads of tutorials on Youtube, also for other Daw’s that still can be useful just to grab a few ideas-
You could try downloading the demo project for Cubase, at least the 9.5 demo project has a lot of different techniques that could be helpful.

I found the book: “Audio Effects, Mixing and Mastering” by Metin Bektas a good introduction. It’s also readable in a couple of hours, so you don’t get bogged down.

Thank you both for the good advice.
Most of my songs are all vst synths, vocal and GA drums and it’s only me so I couldn’t do an audience perspective kind of panning.
I am finding very hard to find space for all the layers of different vst synth melodies I got going on, maybe it is also a problem of transpose, maybe the bass synth should be lower and some of the other melodies should be an octave higher for contrast, I just don’t know what I’m doing in general.

Also do any of you ever use panning on a track so that it would change from left to right during the song, is this something people do or is it not a good practice?

I think Rob Williams is on the right track with his “5 drivers of mixing” framework. (Here’s a youtube). There are other materials from him available. Of course, there are a lot of books out there which are very good, but I like the way he gets to the big picture, because then you have something to fill in. Crucial to the success of any of this is to get going on technical ear training, because you can’t make improvements unless you know what to listen for, and you can hear the difference with every move.

There is countless mixing tutorials on YT. Tutorials for any DAW should be able to be used with Cubase as the mixing principles don’t change. Understand Insert, Send, Faders, plugins etc.

I recommend Pensado’s Place (huge amount of tutorials)
“ITL” Vocal Ducking Delays - Into The Lair #184 - YouTube
As well his various interview with Mixing Engineers

Ken Lewis https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAAvYB_eDXpbVYOLOZCdTLw

Mix Better Now

Start with level balance.